In many industries it is required to set up an array of equipment at a temporary work site, and then disassemble the installation, move it to another work site, and re-assemble it. For example asphalt and concrete plants are often set up in locations where large quantities of material are required for road or building construction. Similarly in the oil and gas industry, an array of equipment is set up at a well location for drilling or servicing, then taken down and moved to a different well location.
These equipment arrays typically include various tanks, bins, silos, and the like for water, asphalt, sand, cement, and other materials such as might be required at any particular work site. These are transported to the work site, often in a lowered horizontal transport orientation, and then raised to a vertical working orientation at the work site. For example bins containing dry material especially are often elongated vertically when in a working position to maximize the quantity of material stored above a hoppered bottom such that the dry material will flow out by gravity.
This vertical orientation also reduces the ground area, or footprint, occupied by the installation. For example in well drilling installations it is necessary to have a number of different materials located in proximity to the well being drilled, and the vertical orientation of tanks and bins facilitates such proximity. In other installations it may also be desirable to minimize the area occupied.
Bins and tanks are typically carried by flat bed trucks or trailers to the work site. The trailer is maneuvered into position, and then the bin is raised from the horizontal transport position to a vertical working position resting on the ground, and the trailer is moved away from the site. A loader machine or crane can be used, or in some cases the trailer itself may tilt up to the vertical, or near vertical position. Tipping and dumping vehicles are well known for a wide variety of purposes where the load carried is tilted upward from a substantially horizontal transport position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,626 to Batterton et al. for example discloses an erection means for a transport trailer. A large object such as a bin is carried on a flatbed trailer in a horizontal orientation. The bin is pivotally attached to the rear end of the trailer, and actuators bear against the bin and trailer to pivot the bin up to the vertical position. The bin can then be disconnected from the trailer and actuators and the trailer is driven away. U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,028 to Boassa et al. discloses a similar trailer for carrying a bin inn the horizontal orientation and then tilting same up to a vertical orientation.